Improvement Strategies for Manufacturing Management : formulated by Merli are as follows:

1. Reduced lead time:

Raw materials stored in the stores do not add value to the product but add to the cost (i.e., inventory carrying cost). Efficient flow of materials through the production stages is essential to competitiveness (speed to market). Lead time can be reduced by reducing order processing time, waiting time before production, manufacturing lead time, storage time and shipping time.

2. Flow production:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Flow production means production which runs smoothly and steadily without interruption. The machines are arranged according to the work flow (i.e., as per the sequence of operations – product layout) thereby facilitating smooth flow of work through the manufacturing operations needed.

3. Group technology:

With group technology, processes are arranged so that work flows in a ‘U’ shaped configuration. This can result in benefits such as shorter lead times, greater flexibility, less time in material handling, minimum work-in-progress inventory, volume flexibility, less floor space used and less need for direct coordination.

4. Level production:

This involves breaking large lots into smaller lots and producing them on a constant level over a period of time. For example, instead of producing 100 units per month (of 25 working days) in one large lot, production is levelled to produce 4 units per day. This eliminates the need to store the materials needed for large lots and facilitates implementation of just-in-time manufacturing.

5. Synchronised production:

This strategy involves synchronising the needs to the production line with suppliers of materials needed on the line. Such information as what type of material is needed, in what quantities, at what time and at what point on the production line must be communicated to the supplier. The supplier must in turn deliver the correct material in the correct quantity at the correct time to the correct place in the line. When this happens, synchronised production takes place.

6. Overlapped/parallel production:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

This strategy involves dismantling long production lines with large capacities and replacing them with production cells that produce smaller lots. This allows production of different configurations of the same product to-be overlapped and/or run parallel.

7. Flexible schedule:

The ability to overlap production or run it parallel provides a great deal of flexibility in scheduling.

8. Pull control:

This concept eliminates idle time between scheduling points in a production process. It also eliminates the need to maintain excess inventories to offset operational imbalances. With this strategy, work move through a process without long waiting periods between steps.

9. Visual control:

It is an important aspect of just-in-time manufacturing. It allows abnormalities in a process to be identified visually as they occur which in turn allows problems to be solved as they occur rather than after-the-fact.

10. Stockless production:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

It is an approach to work handling, inventory, lead time planning, process balancing, capacity utilisation and schedule cycling that reduces work-in-progress inventory. With this strategy, it is necessary to eliminate process bottlenecks, balance the process and an even workflow.

11. Jidoka:

Jidoka means halting an entire process when a defect is discovered so that it won’t cause additional problems further down the production or assembly lines. Jidoka can be manually controlled or programmed to stop automatically.

12. Reduced set-up time:

This strategy consists of an activity which can reduce the amount of time required to stop a process and set it up again for another production run. This strategy used quick change over of tools and dies (for example, single-minute exchange of dies – SMED, used in Japanese industries).

13. In-process control:

This involves minimising the in-process or work-in-progress inventory by organising for a smoother work flow, small lot sizes, process flexibility and quick set-ups and change overs.

14. Quality improvement:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Along with productivity improvement, quality must also be improved continually. Both productivity and quality must be improved simultaneously.

15. Supplier partnership:

This strategy means involving suppliers as partners in all phases of product development. If tested and trusted suppliers know what the buyer firm is trying to do, they will be better able to maximise their resources in helping their customer firms.

16. Total productive maintenance:

This means maintaining all machines and equipments continuously and promptly all of the time with almost zero breakdowns. Poorly maintained system cannot achieve the quality and productivity to be competitive. The effects of poor maintenance could be production losses due to breakdowns, plant shut downs, machine down time, idling of labour etc.